


In Arduis Fidelis

by phantomunmasked



Category: Holby City
Genre: F/F, idk enjoy??, literally something i sat down and vomited out in half an hour, something i wrote to wind down i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 01:47:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8081887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomunmasked/pseuds/phantomunmasked
Summary: In which Bernie has a bad back and Serena makes a discovery.





	

**Author's Note:**

> The idea of Bernie and Serena having a tattoo each was something @muddlethrough and I bounced about early in our headcanoning days. There were quite a few ideas we had as to how either of them would discover the other's tattoos, and this was one of them. 
> 
> "In Arduis Fidelis" translates to "Faithful in Adversity", and they are the words of the Royal Army Medical Corps. Our headcanon is that Bernie probably got inked just after she joined or just before she joined the RAMC; a sign of her commitment, perhaps. 
> 
> Anyway. Hope y'all enjoy, the image of Serena and Bernie standing together in front of a mirror came to me whilst I was eating dinner and just...stuck. 
> 
> My unending thanks to Muddlethrough for her epic beta-ing skills. What I would do without her, I do not know.
> 
> Comments will be most welcome! :)

“FBCs, Us & Es, LFT and amylase for Mr Worthington please, Lou.”  
  
  
Bernie hesitated, halted two steps behind.  
  
  
“Serena?”  
  
  
The surgeon in question turned, methodically sanitised her hands as she raised a questioning eyebrow at her colleague.  
  
  
“I wondered if you’d do me a favour,” Bernie murmured, bending close to Serena’s ear.

“Well, depends on what it is, but ask away.” Serena’s reply was warm as she led the way back to their office, turning to shut the door behind them as Bernie shuffled in.

  
“The thing is…” Bernie hesitated, winced as she lowered herself into her chair.

  
Sharp eyes narrowed in faux irritation.  
  
  
"Oh don’t tell me - you’ve done your back in again.”

  
Bernie’s sheepish blush was all the answer Serena needed.

  
“Honestly, Bernie, invest in a better mattress!”

“Haven’t had the time,” Bernie muttered, staring at her hands as they tapped out a nervous rhythm across the edge of her desk.

An exasperated sigh.

“Come on then, let’s have a look,” Serena declared, pushing her chair back with a long-suffering huff.

“Thanks,” Bernie replied, still not meeting Serena’s gaze.

  
Warm hands came to rest on Bernie’s shoulders, kneaded with welcome pressure at the knotted muscles on either side of her spine.

“Ahhh, found it!”

  
Bernie all but moaned in pleasure as Serena did indeed find the biggest knot, fingers digging mercilessly in to work it loose.

  
“Christ, Serena, I could _kiss_ you right now,” Bernie groaned, exhaling in relief as she tipped her head back, grinned lopsided and upside-down at her impromptu chiropractor.

“Yes. Well. Don’t go making promises you can’t keep,” Serena grumbled back, patting Bernie’s shoulder with an awkward cough as she ambled back to her desk.

  
Bernie rolled her shoulders, tipped her head from side to side experimentally.  
  
  
“Right. Ok. Well, ah-  that wasn’t actually the favour I was going to ask, Serena.”  
  
  
A long pause, as Serena glared incredulously at her colleague.  
  
  
“Berenice Griselda Wolfe, did you just weasel a free backrub out of me?” 

“Hey. I didn’t _technically_ ask you to do it, you just… did!”

Another silence, another pointed glare. 

Bernie resolutely refused to back down, pouted innocently up through her bangs at Serena until she relented.  
  
  
“ _Fine_. But you owe me. What can I do you for, then?”

“Now, promise not to panic, but…”

 

Bernie hesitated as her gaze dropped to her hands once more, tracing senseless patterns across her desk.

  
“But…?” Serena prompted, wariness fairly dripping from every syllable.

“...I’m going to need your help in getting my scrub top off.”

“...”

“Serena?”

“My, moving a bit quickly, aren’t we, Ms Wolfe? First a kiss and now you’re asking me to undress you? I’ll have you know i’m a respectable woman - nothing more until I get properly wined and dined, thank you very much.”

“No - Serena, I just meant-”

A chuckle brought Bernie up short and she blinked, stared at her smirking colleague from across the table. 

“Oh relax,” Serena laughed, folding her arms as she relished the flush creeping up Bernie’s neck, the blush colouring her cheeks.

“It’s your back, isn’t it? You can’t pull the top over your head?” Serena tipped her head to one side, considering Bernie’s hunched form.

 

The silent nod confirmed it and Serena sighed, pushed her chair back to stand.

 

“Come on, then, your shift ended an hour and a half ago. Can’t have an old woman with a bad back wandering round my ward. How would that make me look?”

 

Bernie’s head shot up and she glared at Serena, grimacing as she clambered to her feet.

 

 _“Old woman?_ ”

“Well, you _are_ technically older than me.”

“By _two months_!”

“My point exactly!”

“I take it back. This _old woman_ shall seek help from someone else.”

“How very dare you, propositioning me and then leaving me? I’m shocked, Ms Wolfe!”

  
Bernie’s retort was cut off by Serena’s wicked grin as she came closer, wrapped a supportive arm around Bernie’s waist. She settled for a glare instead  
  
  
“Is this really necessary?”

“Only the very best for you, lover,” Serena murmured, smirk firmly in place as she tugged at Bernie’s arm, slung it about her shoulders.

“Don’t go making promises you can’t keep,” Bernie mumbled, under her breath, and Serena bit her lip at that, concentrating instead on manoeuvring them through their office door and to the locker room.

 

“Bernie! You alright?”  
  
  
On the ward, Raf’s voice cut through their terse silence and Bernie blushed even harder, attempted to pull away from Serena.

 

“She’s fine, back’s just acting up again. I’ll just put her in a cab and I’ll be back on the ward in 15 minutes, you okay to cope without me?”  
  
“Yeah sure, it’s pretty quiet today. Take care of yourself, yeah?”  
  
  
Bernie graced him with a smile and a small salute, leaning slightly more into Serena’s personal space.

“Come on, you,” Serena hummed, steering them in the direction of the ward doors.

“Steady on,” came Bernie’s reply as she complied, unconsciously falling into a natural rhythm with her colleague.  
  
  
The rest of their short journey was spent awkwardly smiling reassuring smiles at curious staff members that passed them by, small nods dispensed left, right and centre that telegraphed _yes, she’s alright, now move on, please.  
_

Finally, finally, they found themselves in the (blessedly) empty locker room, and Serena shuffled them in, nudged the door shut with a hip. 

“Right. Nothing for it, then. Come on, arms up,” Serena commanded, hands on hips as she regarded Bernie’s form.  
  
Blushing mightily, Bernie’s eyes flicked to the door as she hesitated, fingers clutching her locker key in a death grip.   
  
“Oh, relax, I locked it. Now come on, before someone else decides to try and come barging in here.”

Exhaling in defeat, Bernie slotted in the key, turned to face the mirror as she pulled the shirt she had come to work in out of the locker. Slinging it over the open door, she met Serena’s eyes in the mirror and nodded, resolutely.  
  
An encouraging smile, and then a tap on her shoulder as Serena muttered “up”. 

Heartbeat thudding in her ears Bernie complied, raising her arms slowly, painfully. She felt the brush of warm fingers against her waist as Serena tugged on the hem of her scrub top, sucked in her breath to flatten her stomach (nonexistent as it was) as she felt cool air hit the skin on her belly, her ribs -

Her ribs.

Fortunately, her assistant seemed too intent on wrestling her out of her scrub top to notice, and she braced herself, explanations on the tip of her tongue as their joint effort finally saw the navy fabric being tossed, triumphantly aside.

“There we go. Now, do you need help getting your shirt on?”

“No, it’s a button-”

“What’s this?”

Bernie’s right hand flew to wrap about her left flank, instinctively covering the words etched onto her skin.

“Nothing, nothing.”

“Bernie…”

 

Serena’s hand was warm atop her own, and Bernie looked at the floor, awkwardly hugging herself.

 

“What is it?”

“S’nothing,” Bernie muttered, conscious of Serena’s gaze assessing their combined reflections, taking in Bernie’s torso, clad in nothing but a black bra.

(Rather belatedly she remembered the 8-inch long scar running down her sternum, shrugged her right shoulder a little higher so her forearm hid more of it from view)

  
“Let me see?” 

  
Serena’s voice was gentle, her fingers insistent.

  
Dragging her eyes to meet Serena’s in the mirror Bernie took a shuddering breath, nodded silently as she trembled, slowly let her right hand fall to her side.

  
“ _In Arduis Fidelis”_

   
Serena’s breath was warm against her side and Bernie sucked in a breath, raised her left elbow as she stared resolutely at the reflection of Serena tucked into her side, fingers hovering over the inked words on her flank.

“ _F_ _aithful in adversity,”_ Bernie whispered, and nodded again, silent assent to the question Serena asked, dark eyes flicking up to meet her own.

  
“ _In Arduis Fidelis”_  Serena breathed again, tracing the words with no small amount of reverence, once, twice, three times.

  
“Serena - “

“It’s beautiful, Bernie,” Serena whispered, tracing each word with a gentle fingertip.

Bernie said nothing, breath catching in her throat as she watched Serena’s reflection straighten up, her palm a tender caress where it cupped her tattoo. Their eyes met in the mirror, a long moment unbroken as Serena rested her chin on Bernie’s shoulder. Unbidden, Bernie found her left hand drifting to cover Serena’s where it lay on her bare skin, thumb stroking gently along the back of her hand.

 

Bernie shivered, and the moment was broken, Serena’s breath an amused huff against her bare shoulder as the warmth of her pulled away, reached for the shirt hanging next to them.

 

“Come on, then, let’s get you dressed before you catch your death of cold,” Serena murmured. Bernie nodded dumbly again, smiled a quavering smile as Serena gave her side a gentle squeeze.

 

Together, they managed to get Bernie dressed in silence, Serena clearing her throat awkwardly and turning to face the opposite wall as Bernie reached for her scrub bottoms.

 

“Erm. I’m done,” Bernie muttered, swinging her locker shut. Quietly, she slipped into her coat, put her key away in its pocket.

“Good, good. Alright, let’s get you into a taxi. And this weekend I’m taking you shopping for a new mattress. Ah ah - no arguments. We can’t have our resident macho army medic succumbing to something as mundane as a bad back,” Serena smiled, resuming her earlier supportive position.

 

Bernie chuckled, slung her right arm over Serena’s shoulders as she hitched her satchel onto her left shoulder. They turned to the door as one and stepped out into the corridor, the silence between them thrumming with _something new_ , something exciting and unspoken that stayed their tongues and made them think - _maybe._

 

And if Serena’s supportive grasp, safely hidden from view under the tails of Bernie’s coat, crept ever so slightly upward to rest over hidden letters - well.

 

Who was to know but them?

 


End file.
